


Nothing Changes Your Beauty

by tigercry



Series: Half-Blind or Not, You're Everything I Want and Need [1]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Argo is Asuna's sister, Asuna's blinded, Blind Character, F/M, Fanfiction.net request, I still suck at tags O-o, Kirito and Asuna live together, Written in 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigercry/pseuds/tigercry
Summary: "Aw... the little birdie can't see properly..."Asuna's not one to let others get hurt if she can help it even at the expense of her own health she's always going to fight. Even if it leaves her floundering as her view on her world is ripped out from under her feet. However, no matter what happens Kirito is always going to stand beside her, helping her every step of the way.
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito & Yui-MHCP001 & Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Series: Half-Blind or Not, You're Everything I Want and Need [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828885
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Black's Revenge

**Author's Note:**

> I am rewriting this, so if there's anything you guys want to see in the rewritten version that isn't here, make sure to let me know!

"Asuna!"

"Asuna-san!"

"A-chan!"

Kirito's head was spinning as he raced toward the frightened cries, which was pierced by a pained cry only half a seconds later. His pulse jumped, his heart pounding in fear at what he would see when he managed to get to the three girls. Why couldn't it all be over? Even after GGO, the Sleeping Knights, Yuuki recovering temporarily, and the ending of the fight with Asuna's parents with him and Yui, they couldn't have a normal life. In situations like this he wanted to stay in ALO with Asuna and Yui and live out his days in their small log cabin that more of a home than anything he had ever known. _I'm coming Asuna! I'm coming!_ This was his fault, ex. Laughing Coffin members had targeted his friends and Asuna had just happened to be there, spelling disaster that wasn't going to end well for anybody. He sprinted around the street corner and bolted toward the alley, the source of all the noise and commotion. He could hear more speaking now, faint like they were trying to keep it down.

"-we're at… with ex killer from SAO… yes… come quickly!"

He turned into the alley just as Asuna stumbled back into the view of a light in the alley, her balance shaky, stance off, and the Collapsable weapon in her hands, a thin pole like weapon similar to her rapier, was shaking and drooping at the tip.

"Aw, the little birdie can't see," the laughing coffin member mocked as they slowly approached her, "little baby Lightning Flash can't fight without her sight."

Asuna's voice shook, but she snarled her words with a furious and rather deadly snarl. "I can see enough to send you where you deserve," she hissed, "and to protect my family and friends from you Black!" Her weapon stabilized a little even as Kirito started running toward them and she darted forward, jabbing the weapon toward the Laughing Coffin member, who easily dodged Asuna's jab as she stopped short just a foot in front of him without hitting him, and cackled, swiping his thin dagger at her face and drawing a sharp hiss of pain from the girl.

"You need two eyes to see distance properly," the Laughing Coffin member cackled, "how does it feel to have your own vision betray you Princess?" He mockingly called her by a nickname from SAO, "your vision is failing you, messing with your head, how does that feel?" He lunged at her and caught Asuna by the front of her jacket, his knife held a milimeter from her face. "How about I make that perminant?" He spoke quietly in his cackle of a drawl, "the lightning flash is no more." The knife tip connected with Asuna's face

Asuna's scream and struggle to escape Black's grasp pushed Kirito into panic mode, his adreniline racing like it had once done in SAO every time he was fighting for his life and loved ones.

"Asuna!"

"Black you bastard leave her alone!"

"Get free Asuna! Come on!"

Kirito had forgotten about Liz, Argo, and Sinon being there too, and could just barely see them tied to eachother by the wrists with their ankles bound. "Asuna! I'm coming!" He yelled as he finally caught sight of the crimson blood staining the ground between her and Black

At the sound of his voice Asuna seemed to panic and she struggled harder, making the knife slip as she bit her lip to stop the scream of pain and grunt instead. "Don't! He wants you Kirito!" Her words were puncuated by coughs but Kirito could still hear the panicked fear in it. "Don't give it to him!"

To his utter shock and amazement, Asuna seemed to manage to get control of the situation, managing to grasp Black's knife hand with both of her own shaking hands and yank on it, she gave a sharp groan of pain as the blade was forced down her face, cutting into her cheek and skimming her chin.

"What the-" Black said in surprise as he fought with Asuna for control of the knife, the pair of them shaking from the exhertion to overpower the other. "How?! I had you!"

Asuna grunted, now able to easily hear Kirito's running footsteps, "you can damage me," she growled as she struggled to overpower the taller man, inching the knife further and further away from her, "but you can not have Kirito!"

Kirito saw her visibly push all of her strength into her arms at that moment and finally disarmed Black, the knife falling helplessly onto the ground near them before Asuna tackled Black to the ground with a battle cry Kirito had heard more than once in SAO, particularly when he or Yui were in danger. "Asuna! Let me help you!" He made it into the area and froze, there was more blood on the ground than he had realized, there was some on the wall, the knife dripped with blood halfway up the blade, and there was a distorted puddle on the ground along with drips that followed most of Asuna's movements.

Asuna ignored him, grabbed her weapon after a try where she missed it by a good six inches, and it sparked like a tazor when she fumbled to activate the hidden ability Liz had put into it. "I'm still the Lightning FLash," she snarled at Black who was staring at her wide eyed, "and your reign of terror after PoH is over!"

Black backled, "how can you be the Lightning Flash if you can't even grab an object the first try?" He cackled, playing with Asuna's mind and trying to make her feel weak. "I may go to prison, but I did more than anyone in Laughing Coffin ever did! I defeated the Lightning FLash-" His body jolted as Asuna swung her weapon at his head, shocking him with the strength of a police taser and knocking him out cold.

Asuna stumbled up and away from him, dropping the collapsible and bringing both hands to her face with a woozy groan. She wobbled like she was going to fall and Kirito kicked the discarded knife toward the other three girls before he lunged and caught Asuna before she completely fell. "Asuna!"

The sound of sirens could be faintly heard approaching even as Kirito's stomach and heart twisted at the sight of his girlfriend and SAO wife's face. Asuna's beautiful face was stained with blood, a thick film of blood hid her left eye and surrounding area while she had a slowly bleeding cut above both eyes, her right eyes had blood speckled near it, and she had a long but thin gash going down her left cheek that cut open her lips at the corner of her mouth and went down her chin. "Asuna…" He breathed, her body held partially upright held closely to him with her upper body held in his arms and her lower body partially on his knees. He felt tears well in his eyes at how Asuna's face screwed up into a look of pain and hurt even with her eyes closed, like she wanted it to all just go away, and that she knew how bad she looked. "It… It's not too bad," he tried to reassure her despite the tears welling in his eyes and the choking lump growing in his throat. When there was that much blood it was never a good thing, even if head wounds bled a lot more than anything else. Her blood was beginning to soak through his shirt at it kept bleeding, and Kirito was hesitant to wipe away the thick and sticky blood that kept bleeding to see what the real damage was. He selfishly for a moment didn't want to know what damage Black had down to his other half's face, and so he resolved to let the doctors take care of it first.

Asuna's right eye opened half way after a moment while her other didn't, and her left eyebrow didn't move as she furrowed her forehead, lightly wrinkled her nose, and slightly jutted out her shaking lower lip into a pitiful expression that broke Kirito's heart. She didn't say anything, too woozy from blood loss and now whiter than a sheet, but Kirito got the message. She was scared, scared the injury would take him from her, because she wasn't going to be the same anymore.

Kirito felt someone crouch down next to him and heard two other sets of footsteps behind him, saw Asuna's open eye wander above his head for a moment before it drooped shut, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. He lifted one hand, not noticing the blood on his fingers from touching her blood soaked shirt, and gently pulled her bangs from the sticky blood on her face before he held her close, feeling the blood on her face absorb faster into his clothing as he lightly pressed her face to his chest, comforting her. "We'll get through this," he murmured softly to her and smoothed her frizzy and dirty caramel colored hair, "together. I promise." As he said the last two words he felt Asuna go limp and he pulled back a little to look at her face, both tenderly and in fear.

The sirens were loud now, and they could hear people turning the corner and running toward them, but Kirito's attention was fixed on Asuna's face as his stomach turned and his heart wrenched. The fresh blood on Asuna's face had been absorbed by his shirt, leaving just the sticky half congealed blood on her face was was a darker shade. But Kirito could now partially see the reason for all the blood as fresh blood welled up over the injury, leaving an outline of what Black had done, and Kirito understood what he had meant earlier.

" _You need two eyes to see distance properly…"_

" _How does it feel to have your own vision betray you…"_

" _Little baby Lightning Flash can't fight without her sight…"_

" _How can you be the Lightning Flash if you can't even grab an object the first try?"_

The line of fresh blood welling up on Asuna's blood sticky face went from just above her eyebrow centered with her left eye, down _through_ where her eye was, and followed down her cheek, lip, and chin. The later part was likely cause when Asuna yanked the blade down and away from her eye.

Kirito's head spun dizzily and he wobbled like he was going to pass out, but he remained awake, onyx colored eyes fixed on the line of blood that was always spreading out over her face one again. _Asuna… he…_ He couldn't think, Black had ruined Asuna's life just to get to him and have bragging rights. He… He had _blinded_ Asuna on one side just to teach them a lesson. "He blinded you…" he breathed to the unconscious girl in his arms. "He actually _blinded_ you." Without depth perception Asuna's life was about to take a vicious turn. She would be considered legally blind due to the difference in what she distance her perceived to what was really there.

The person crouching next to him reached over and pulled Asuna's blood matted chestnut hair from her face and away from the injury, lightly tanned skin giving it away as Argo, a.k.a Akira, Asuna's older sister. "Yeah," she said quietly as the medical personnel and police men entered the alley, "ya saw her miss that jab, miss pickin' up her collapsible, and nearly miss grabbin' at his hands." Argo's voice wobbled, "Asuna won't be able to see like us any more."

Kirito's heart threatened to break, hearing the words come from someone else was the last straw and he gave a broken sob, tears spilling down his face even as medical personnel began to swarm them and take Asuna from his arms. _I'm so sorry Asuna… I'm so sorry!_


	2. News That's Hard On the Ears

"Onii-chan!" Sugu rushed through the hospital, the rest of the group on her heels running toward her brother while Midori got them all visitor badges and kept a sobbing Yui busy while Sugu tried to get her brother to help with her, the six-year-old, almost seven, was hysterical after hearing that Asuna was in the hospital.

Kirito was standing alone at the double doors to the operating room, staring blankly at the wooden doors with the knowledge that down a hallway and in one of the operating rooms was his significant other, fighting possibly for her life due to the blood loss. Either way he didn't know if she was okay or she really fighting for her life and not just her vision, which was something he knew deep down couldn't be fixed.

Nearby Argo was speaking to her and Asuna's parents in a low tone, a rather flat and emotionless expression on the Rat's face, and Liz and Sinon were sitting in waiting chairs. Both of them had their wrists and ankles bandaged from rope burns and had a few cuts here and there with Liz sporting a developing black eye from shooting of her mouth at black before Asuna had arrive. Argo's wounds hadn't been treated yet, likely she had refused till she saw her sister again, and the short girl had angry rope burns on her wrists and ankles, worse than Sinon and Liz's due to how she had struggled to help her sister. She was beat up like Liz with a fat lip and bruising just below her right eye, and she had the dagger responsible for hurting Asuna wrapped in a strip of cloth and sitting in her back pocket, the bloody hilt easily visible.

At the sound of Sugu's voice Kirito turned around and faced the rest of the group who quickly slowed to a stop. Kirito looked lost and confused, his onyx colored eyes were red-rimmed with tears that were currently slowly making their way down his face, his black hair was sticking up funny from him running his hands through it and the blood on his hands making it stick up, his hands were relatively clean, with blood streaks from most of the blood going subconsciously into his hair as he worried, and his dark grey shirt had a large dark red spot that was darker at the edges as the blood on his shirt dried. There was a little blood on his pants and shoes, along with a smeared patch from the blood in Asuna's hair, and Kirito's expression made him look like a small lost puppy, unsure what to do with the world while Asuna was in surgery and away from him.

Sugu's breath hitched and she felt her heart ache at her brother's pain and look of lost confusion, and she pushed the bag she had over one shoulder into Klein's hands, who was right behind her. "Kazuto?" She spoke softly and approached her brother who didn't really move move than to blink and shift his weight from one side to the other in a small form of worry. "We brought you clean clothes and something for you, Argo, Liz, and Sinon to eat," her voice was gentle and worried, "are you okay?"

Kirito lightly shrugged and didn't say anything, unable to find his voice.

Klein unzipped the bag while Sugu looked at her brother, unsure how to help him, and pulled out a clean shirt and jacket. He slung the bag over one shoulder and walked over to the young man before he put a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave him a very light slap to the back. "I know you're worried man, we all are, but you have to at least change your shirt or you're going to make Yui more hysterical." He offered him the shirt and held onto the jacket for him, "atleast change your shirt and talk for you mom man, I'm sure one of the other three there will tell us what happened."

At the mention of his adopted daughter Kirito nodded bleakley and took the shirt from Klein and stared at it for a moment, as if unsure what to so with it.

Klein sighed and ran a hand through his red hair, "alright," he looked over at one of the only other guys there, "Agil, will you take Yui from Midori and send her over here?" He was showing an immense amount of maturity at the moment, knowing that this wasn't the time to break the ice with a joke.

Agil nodded from his position at the back and went off to fetch Midori.

Klein grasped one of Kirito's arms and pulled at the jacket sleeve, silently helping his in shock friend while waiting for Midori.

Kirito dumbly followed Klein's actions, helping a little but not very much, his mind occupied on other things.

A minutes or two later while everyone settled into chairs, Midori came hurrying down the hall, only to slow to a stop near her adopted son and give him a gentle and reassuring look. "Kazuto," she said quietly and her son's head, which had dropped so that he had been staring at the floor, jerked up and he looked at his aunt and adopted mom. "What would Asuna say if she found you still wearing that bloody shirt?" She asked, gently reprimanding him and pulling him from his numb daze.

Kirito glanced down at his bloody shirt and at the shirt in his hands before he moistened his lips with his tongue and spoke in a hoarse croak. "She'd call me an idiot and say that I'll get sick if I don't change."

Midori smiled, "she would now wouldn't she?" She walked over to him, "change your shirt kiddo, it'll make you feel better."

Kirito silently handed her the clean shirt and tugged his bloody one over his head without caring about everyone else seeing him shirtless. He stared at the clean shirt after he took it back from Midori, onyx colored eyes glazing over, lost in the daze from before once again.

Midori sighed, gently took the shirt from her son, and tugged his arms through the sleeves before she carefully pulled it over his head and smoothed out some of the wrinkles.

Kirito watched her do it, his eyes clearing as he just looked at his mom for a few moments, fighting against what he wanted to do.

Midori saw through it however and offered her arms to him for a hug, her expression gentle and concerned.

Kirito's eyes watered and the tears that had faded by the time Klein had helped him out of his jacket reappeared in his eyes only to start falling as his embraced Midori tightly and started sobbing, his heart breaking.

Midori softly stroked her son's black hair, wrapping him in a warm mother's embrace and gently rocking from side to side.

Argo told everyone what happened with the exception of Agil who stood out of earshot with Yui to prevent Yui from really hearing what had happened to Asuna. After that they waited, and waited, and waited for someone to through those double doors and tell them all that Asuna was okay, that she was going to be fine. The only input Kirito gave the others was that it was highly likely she wouldn't come out of there with proper vision, and it had made the mood more somber.

Kirito was sitting with Yui on his lap, his daughter was asleep, fitfully dozing curled up on his lap; Liz and Sinon were picking at the food Sugu had brought; Argo was sitting next to her and Asuna's parents, ignoring her wildly buzzing cellphone and the disapproving looks she was getting from Kyoko; Klein was sitting there running a hand through his hair and fidgeting; Agil had Silica sleeping against his shoulder; and Sugu and Midori were seated next to Kazuto, with Midori working on a knitting project, something she had taken up last year and was getting pretty good at, and Sugu looking worriedly at her brother with one hand wrapped around her brother's.

Finally, after the others had been there for an hour and Kirito, Argo, Liz, and Sinon for two, Someone came out. A doctor, wearing blue scrubs, a face mask, and a white lab like coat came out and pulled down his mask. "Family and friends for Asuna Yuuki?"

Kirito looked up at the doctor, carefully lifted Yui into a better position to carry the small girl for her age, and walked softly over to him along with Asuna's parents and Argo.

"Yes, that's us," Kyoko stated, her voice was even and calm as ever. "How is she doctor?" Concern tinted her voice a softer tone, concern she rarely showed for her youngest daughter.

The doctor sighed and Kirito's heart dropped in fear, "she's alive," the doctor said and everyone buzzed with quiet whispering comments, including those who had been filtering in as the news reached them. "However," the talking stopped imeadiately, "we couldn't save her vision. Asuna's left eye is blind from the damage done to it and she may half fuzzy flashes or moments where her other eye, her right, temporarily stops functioning."

"Why?" Argo asked quietly, asking the question they all wanted an answer to, "she wasn't injured on the other side."

The doctor looked at her, "you're right, she wasn't. But she did have a cut above both eyes that bled _into_ her eyes, causing some damage. She will still be able to see on that one side, but coupled with the fuzzy flashes and potential moments where she can't see at all, we have to say she's borderline legally blind."

 _I figured,_ Kirito said to himself with a sigh and listened to the rest of what the doctor had to say.

"Scarring wise she will have light scarring to her cheek, lip, and chin from the gash in her face, and a little more visible scar that goes like this," he raised a finger and held his finger at his eyebrow and pulled it down to just below his left eye. "We've done what we can to lessen the scarring on all of these, but it's impossible to completely erase the scars for cuts as deep as that one. Now, I'm sure you all want to visit her, but only immediate family until she wakes up and we see how she's feeling pain wise."

The doctor then looked at Kirito for a moment before speaking, "Asuna told us that a boy named Kirito should be with her before she wakes up, that you?"

Kirito nodded and adjusted his hold on Yui, "Yes."

"Your visitor badge says Kazuto, is there a particular reason for that?"

Kirito looked at him, onyx colored eyes growing rather fierce and determined, "Kirito's my nickname, Asuna prefers to call me Kirito over Kazuto."

The doctor slightly nodded, "good answer. Alright," he looked over at Asuna's family, "we usually only allow two people to come with us, but we'll make an exception if you all agree to be quiet and let her wake up on her own." He held open one of the double doors and Asuna's family began to quietly file through the door, waiting near the door for the doctor.

Kirito nodded and lightly shrugged his shoulders to wake Yui who stirred an lifted her head sleepily. "I'm going to go see mama," he said quietly to the sleepy girl, "stay here with grandma, Sugu, and Agil, okay?"

Yui nodded sleep riddenly against his shoulder and Agil came over to him where Kirito carefully shifted Yui into Agil's arms instead of Kirito's. Only once Yui was tucked in Agil's muscular arms and was looking sleepily at her father with her silver eyes mostly closed, did Kirito follow Asuna's family with the doctor temporarily bringing up the rear.

The walk to where Asuna was recovering was tensely silent, Kirito and Argo walking together ahead of the parents, Kirito looked worried and anxious, and almost jumped a mile when Argo lightly grasped his his hand and rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, you look like you're gonna explode Kii-boi. Asu's fine." Argo explained why she had grabbed his hand in a simple manner, and Kirito couldn't help but be thankful for the comfort and how she didn't flinch when he squeezed her till both of their knuckles turned white.

Eventually they reached the room, and Kirito hated how long it took for the doctor to unlock the door with his key card and pull it open for them all.

"Now be quiet when you go in, her body's gone through a lot today and it's likely that she'll be confused and disorientated and possibly in pain when she does wake up." The doctor told them all sternly before he pulled the door open.

Kirito nodded at his words and entered the room first, his eyes going immediately to the slender form of his loved one bundled under the hospital bed blankets lying on her back. The bed was raised up at a gentle angle to make it easier for her breathe with the breathing tube in her nose, she had an IV from the surgery in one wrist, pulse reader on her left index finger, and had most of the left side of her face hiding under clean white bandages like it would be for the next week. He said nothing to anyone, let go of Argo's hand, and instead sat down on the edge of the bed, carefully entwining the fingers of Asuna's free hand with his own. _We'll do this together, I promise_.

* * *

Kirito stirred awake by someone lightly brushing their fingers through his slightly matted from blood black hair. He could hear faint talking as he came to his senses, there were more than Asuna's family there judging by the many voices, and the atmosphere was lighter, happy almost.

"How long is he gonna sleep?"

"How long do you think it'll take for him to realize who's touching him?"

"Mama, daddy's still sleeping!" A voice near him complained and the blankets his head was on moved a little.

"Be careful Yui, she's not feeling well," another voice, which he now recognized as Liz's.

"It's okay," another voice, drowsy from pain medication and a little nasally from a breathing tube, said with some of her syllables slurring together. "He's really tired Yui," the voice mumbled and Kirito felt the hand going through it hair sloppily smoothed down his messy hair, "he'll wake up at some point."

Kirito slowly lifted his head up from the bed, taking the hand going through his hair up with him.

"There he is," Asuna slurred, she was looking lazily at him through half open amber eyes, well her right one anyway. The other eye was hidden under the bandaging on her face. Asuna lifted her hand and brought it back down to pat his head, only to accidentally over shoot so that only the end of her palm and wrist made contact with his head. "Darn it," she mumbled and brought her hand to her face and went to rub her eye, but Liz caught her hand from keeping it from brushing over her nose instead.

"Be careful Asuna," Liz sighed, "you're gonna need someone to watch you to make sure you don't poke yourself in the eye."

"Shut up Liz," Asuna grumbled, her speech filter clearly not apparent, "no I won't." She managed to rub her right eye properly before she dropped her hand and looked at Kirito, whose lips were twitching with amusement. "What? You're laughing at me," she complained in a slurred mumbled and moved to push at his face, only to stop short and just rest her hand on his face. "Stop it!" She whined, complaining while next to her, curled on the bed, Yui giggled.

Kirito smiled against Asuna's hand and took her hand before playfully pressing his lips against her palm. "Sorry hun, I'll stop laughing now I promise."

Asuna's amber eyes twinkled with a half smile due to the stitches in her lip and the bandaging over the cut. She settled a little more comfortably in her lying down position and let him hold her hand and tuck it under his chin.

Once virtually everyone left, complaining they were tired now that it was past midnight, and Asuna got another dose of the pain medication which caused her to giggle for about five minutes about how Kirito's hair sticking up a little in the back, it was just him and Asuna, Midori had taken Yui home to be put to bed once again for the night. He was sitting on the bed next to her, affectionately watching her play with his fingers, her usual grace in her movements nonexistent as she clumsily played with his fingers, struggling a little with her new altered depth perception. He would have to leave soon though for the night and go to sleep even though he had slept for an hour waiting for Asuna to wake up.

It seemed Asuna had been thinking something along the same lines, "stay with me," she slurred, amber eyes focused on him, or atleast the right eye was. Her left eye would remain closed for the next few weeks as it healed as much as it could and the stitching would dissolve.

Kirito sighed, "I doubt they'd let me stay Asuna, it's way past visiting hours."

Asuna tightened her grasp around Kirito's hand, and she frowned, jutting out her lower lip in the process. "Stay with mee," she whined in a half slur, pouting and tugging on his arm toward her.

Kirito thought about it, she needed someone to watch her and make sure she wasn't going to hurt herself and like Liz said, poke herself in the eye, and her parents had gone home, leaving her alone and by herself.

"I want you to stay with me, right here," Asuna patted a spot next to her on the bed as she scooted over, Kirito watching her carefully as she moved over, "sleep with me," she slurred, "we won't do anything, just sleep."

Kirito's face turned red and Asuna giggled, un aware of what she had said and finding his blushing face amusing. _These meds, they're going to be the end of me._ Kirito groaned mentally before he sighed and swung his legs up onto the bed and scooted over next to her, "okay fine, but if I get in trouble you're to blame."

Asuna pushed closer to him, rolling onto her right side and scooting back toward him. At least she didn't try to push her face against his chest, she would've hurt herself if she did that.

Kirito cautiously rested his arms around her waist, being careful to not hurt her. "G'night Asuna," he said quietly after he reached over her and pressed the small button to turn off the lights, only to get no response. By her deep breathing and still form, she had fallen asleep.


	3. Guide Dog

An alarm going off forced Kirito into the land of the living and away from his dead boulder of a sleep cycle with a sleepy groan. He knew what the alarm was for, it was for school again since it was Monday, but he didn't want to get up. It was warm, he felt sleepy and comfortable, and he didn't particularly want to go to school and deal with more rumors.

A complaining whine from next to him and the rustling of the blankets as they turned away from him reminded Kirito's sleep hazy brain that Asuna was finally back at his house after being stuck in the hospital for a few days and then she had stayed home for the past three weeks, till she could finally open both eyes and half adjusted a little for her wonky depth perception. Everything was a struggle, to the point where half the time Asuna got frustrated and shut both eyes to use her other senses instead. He knew their friends were hiding something from them, some kind of secret that involved Asuna that they hadn't told him about yet, but hadn't dwelled on it, focusing on making sure Asuna was taken care of.

"Come on you two," Sugu knocked on the bedroom door with a huff, "get up or we're going to be late! I'll set Yui on you Kirito!"

Kirito glared at the door with a scowl, his daughter was always hyper in the morning, as she would jump on him and the bed, giving him double the normal treatment since she couldn't do it to Asuna without hurting her. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" He complained, speaking loud enough for Sugu to be able to hear him, "we won't be late anyway!" He said as he reached over Asuna's shoulders to tap on his phone to shut the alarm off. He had set his alarm early today, Asuna was supposed to be going to school with him today, and he wanted to do everything he could to help her get ready for it and be comfortable. He knew she was hesitant about the whole idea, especially with how her left eye was after Black's attack. Her face was mostly healed up already, but there was one thing nobody could change.

Kirito tugged Asuna closer to him by the waist and lightly brushed his lips over her neck, murmuring a greeting against her skin. "You gotta get up hun, Sugu will kill me if we make her late to school."

"Don't wanna go," Asuna mumbled in response and kept her eyes closed, as if trying to fall back to sleep. "You can't make me."

Kirito rolled his eyes and rested his nose in her caramel colored hair, "you have to at some point Asuna," he murmured comfortingly, "it won't get any easier."

Asuna sighed heavily and rolled over in his hold to face him, keeping her eyes closed. "I know…" She hated opening her eyes in the morning he had noticed over the past few days, she would much rather keep her eyes closer all day and hide than open them and the brave the day without someone's encouragement. The healing scar that went through Asuna's eyebrow and down through her left eyelid was more visible when her eyes were closed, but Asuna didn't mind the scarring, she cared about how different her left eye looked compared to her other one now. Her eyes were still the same shape, same beautiful shade of amber, and showed the same amount of emotions, but…

Kirito leaned forward a little and brushed his lips over her eyelids, coaxing his anxious and worried significant other to open her eyes and at least give the world a try before hiding herself out of shaking nerves. "It's okay, come on, I  _ want _ to see your beautiful eyes." He looked softly at her, "we're going to do this, together, one step at a time Asuna, together." He rested one hand on her cheek, his thumb going lightly over her skin in a soothing fashion.

After a few moments of hesitation and reluctance Asuna slowly opened her eyes immediately working to focus well in the bright morning light.

Kirito smiled softly at having her looking at him with both eyes, even though her the color of the pupil in her left eye was faded slightly and a little bluish due to the scarring that had formed over the past three weeks, and if he paid enough attention and watched for long enough he knew that her left eye would twitch a little, something the doctors had said would be as lazy as it would get, which was good. "Just because you can't see out of one eye doesn't make you any less beautiful, remember that okay?"

Asuna nodded slightly before they both jumped, startled when Sugu threw open the door with an annoyed expression. She made a noise of frustration when she turned her head to see where Sugu was only to find her standing in her blind spot, and grumbled, being incredibly reluctant to go to school.

Kirito sighed, "I'm coming Sugu," he rolled eyes, let Asuna go, sat up, and slid off the bed into a standing position before he offered a hand to Asuna to take. Only to feel a pang of sadness when Asuna reached to take his offered hand, only for the tips of her fingers to barely brush against his hand.

Asuna's jaw tightened and she tried for a second time, reaching a little further and Kirito moving his hand toward her a little to help her get it properly.

Kirito could see the sympathetic look on his sister's face, especially when Asuna scooted to the edge of the bed and would've fallen backward off onto the floor when she moved too far this time if he hadn't been holding onto her, and lightly shook his head at Sugu when she moved to get closer and help Asuna too.  _ Asuna needs time to adjust, _ he tried to convey to his sister as he gently pulled Asuna's arm through his and led the way through his room, Asuna rapidly blinking to clear the vision in her other eye,  _ and she doesn't want to seem weak to anybody. _

"I need your help," Asuna mumbled half under her breath to Kirito, cheeks flushing a faint pink and studied the floor beneath her feet.

"I know," Kirito smiled gently and waved off his sister before digging through the closet, "let's see… Where did Yui hide our uniforms this time?"

Asuna lightly shrugged her shoulders, but her lips quirked into a goofy smile, "she didn't hide mine, mine's hanging up." She pointed vaguely at where her school uniform was hanging up in the closet all nice and neatly, "I don't see yours though."

Kirito sighed, inwardly pleased that Asuna recognized the clothes in the closet since she hadn't really been able to pinpoint where they really were while her vision blurred. "Great…"

"Asuna! Kirito!" The shouts of their friends brought a smile to Kirito's face and knew Asuna would smile once she figured out how to get out of the car with her blurry vision on one side and blindness on the other.

"I should've listened to my dad," Asuna groaned in complaint as she reached over, touched Kirito's should to judge the distances and squeezed her eyes shut before sliding off the seat and out of the car.

"What did you dad say?" Kirito asked curiously as he grabbed their bags from the car and said goodbye to his mom.

"My dad I should bring the ridiculous looking cane to school," Asuna muttered moodily, "it's good for judging distances and all that."

Kirito laughed and offered her his arm, watching as she brushed her fingers over his shirt before finding the proper amount of space she needed to move to hook her arm through his. "It's okay, I'll lead you around then."

A month and a half since the accident went by and they began adjusting, settling into a rhythm that they were all okay with and made everything go smoother. Until they finally had one of the moments that the doctor had told them about where Asuna's vision would flicker and die, and it was stuck that way for over a day.

At the moment Kirito was sprawled on the couch with some kind of cartoon for Yui playing with his head in Asuna's lap and Yui perched tentatively in front of her father, silver eyes fixed on the tv show in front of her.

Asuna's fingers were lightly brushing through his hair, she had one hand performing the action and was resting her other hand above his forehead, helping her guess the distance. Her head was turned toward a nearby window, the sunset warm light warming her face and occupying her attention move than a tv she couldn't see. Her vision was completely black at the moment, and unlike the first time it had done it, Asuna didn't seem scared. She seemed to be relatively okay wearing black sunglasses with white rims and red edging Kirito had picked out teasingly last year and used to not wear. Now she wore sunglasses almost every day to hide her left eye's now mostly milky blue pupil from the scarring and at the moment, the heightened amount of red in her right iris. She also had earbuds in, listening to music and drowning out most of the world at the current moment.

Kirito didn't have a problem with it since she took them off when it was just them, but their friends had voiced worries that Asuna wasn't going to be able to take them off and ever let them all see the resulting injury even once. He, her parents, Argo, and the doctors were the only one so far who had actually seen Asuna's eyes since the attack, and Asuna was hesitant to show anyone else.

"Kazuto!" Midori suddenly raised her voice from the kitchen, "someone's coming to see you-"

She barely got the words out before the front door was knocked on and Sugu got up before she went and pulled it open.

"Hello?... Oh hey guys, what're you all doing here?"

"I'd love to chat and explain exactly what we're doing," Liz panted and Kirito sat up and looked at the door to see Liz holding a massive bag of what looked like… dog kibble? "But this stuff is heavy!"

Sugu hastily let Liz and the other in, "okay, but why're you hauling around a fifty pound bag of kibble?-!"

Klein hastily covered Sugu's mouth and pointed toward Asuna and shook his head.

Liz let the kibble drop with a resounding thud once she got inside and put her hands on her hips with a smug grin, "just look will you?"

Kirito's jaw dropped as Silica walked into the house, a dog trotting calmly at her heels. The thing was that it had a red and white service vest on it's back, had a handle on the vest for the handler to grab, was big enough to stand at a little higher than Asuna's knees and was a pure white German Shepherd. He turned to look at Asuna to see if she noticed anything unusual and found her patting her lap for Yui who hastily sat in her mother's lap while Asuna slightly shakily braided her hair. So he leaned over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, murmured something about getting some water, that she probably didn't really hear anyway with her headphones in, and hastily went over to his group of friends. "What're you guys doing?!" He hissed, eyes wide at the sight of a dog in his house, one that vaguely resembled Tilnel's wolf from SAO, "and what's this all about?!"

Liz rolled her eyes, "I talked to Asuna a while ago, a few days after the surgery when she wasn't on pain medication and she told me she hated the idea of having a cane and so I found a different option. It's not like we can coop her up at home every time her vision blinks out, she's still Asuna, and Asuna's not a fan of being cooped up in one place for too long, just like you Kirito. So after like a month and a half of searching around and training, we all pooled our money and got Asuna a guide dog. She doesn't know yet though, so keep quiet till we set everything up."

Kirito sighed, "alright, but if it doesn't go according to plan this is going to suck. I'll keep her busy." He headed back to the couch where Asuna was finishing up Yui's braid and lightly tugged on one of Asuna's earbuds.

Asuna made a noise of disapproval and lightly slapped his hand away from her ear before she pulled out the earbuds on her own. "Yeah?"

"It's almost two, we should probably work on lunch for Yui," Kirito explained, "plus everyone's gonna come over in a little while so we could have lunch out for them too."

Asuna tilted her head a little as she thought about it and secured Yui's braid in place, "okay," she decided and Yui slid off her lap to plop down in front of the tv again.

"You stay here Yui," Kirito told his daughter and ruffled her braided hair, "we'll be back in a minute.

A few minutes later Kirito was spreading the mayonnaise on the last sandwich and Asuna was finishing cutting up some tomatoes, the meat for the sandwich was quietly cooking, and Kirito was watching fascinated at Asuna's skill with a kitchen knife. Even without her sight she was a wonder to behold in the kitchen. By making sure her fingers were lined up with the knife and never lifting her hand higher than her mother wrist, she could slice away at the vegetable in front of her and not once cut her fingers.

"Hey Asuna!" Liz chirped and trotted into the kitchen, a big grin on her face that Asuna couldn't see.

Asuna finished cutting the tomato in front of her, lips twitching into a smile, "hi Liz, what's up? We're just finishing up lunch."

Kazuto looked over at Liz who nodded and he rolled his eyes and mouthed, 'Are you sure about this?'

Liz just flashed him a dazzling smile and took Asuna by the hand. "Come on, I have someone for you to meet, and you're gonna want to meet her."

Asuna pulled a face but she let Liz drag her away, "turn off the stove Kirito," she told him even as Liz pulled her toward the living room. The chestnut haired girl was struggling a little to maintain her balance and figure out where she was going when Liz pulled her in a few circles to mess up her sense of direction.

Kirito made a noise of agreement and quickly turned off the stove before he followed suit after Liz and Asuna, feeling a little apprehensive. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted a dog for his aunt and sister to obsess over, plus he wanted Asuna to himself, not shared with some animal. He blinked,  _ I'm jealous of a dog? A dog Asuna hasn't even met yet? Good grief, what's wrong with me? _


	4. No Matter What Happens We'll Go Through It Together

"Tickle monster!" Kirito suddenly cackled while they were watching a movie and threw her over one shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "I have my prize!"

Asuna laughed, "I'm not a prize!" She complained even as Kirito pushed open the door to their bedroom, still technically Kirito's, and deposited her on the bed, "Kirito!" She squealed as he pounced on her, fingers brushing up and down her sides. Asuna dissolved into giggles, "s-stop it!"

Kirito grinned and leaned over, "mine!" He teased and pinned her legs down to avoid her kicking him as he leaned over and blew a raspberry against her neck earning himself another burst of giggles. "You're all mine now!" He teased and blew another raspberry, causing Asuna to shriek with laughter and to push at his face with one half hearted hand, her actions weak from laughter and the inability to breathe properly. But the moment she lifted her hands away from her stomach Kirito attacked her stomach and ribs with his fingers, "mwahahaha!" He gave an evil laugh as he moved away from her neck as Asuna started squirming and laughing harder, tears of laughter welling in her amber eyes.

"S-stop it! I c-cant… b-breathe!" Asuna cried while laughing, kicking her legs and attempting to grab his hands with hers, only to miss more than a few times. "K-ki! I c-can't b-breathe!"

Kirito grinned and paused for a second to let her catch her breath, "but you're my prize," he grinned and lightly tickled her, eliciting another peal of laughter from the breathless girl. "And as such I get to keep you, and I'm gonna tickle you!"

Only once his fingers were getting tired did Kirito stop, and Asuna was practically dying under him, hiccuping with the occasional giggle trailing from her mouth in the process. Kirito sighed mock sadly, "okaay, I'll stop…"

"Th-thank you- Eep!"

"After this one!" Kirito grinned and jump started her, making Asuna dissolve into giggles again, one arm wrapped around her midriff, her diaphragm aching terribly from all of the laughter. Then he let her calm down, smiling softly at his significant other as she giggled and tried to breathe properly. Her amber eyes were twinkling with laughter in the sunlight from the open curtain, and nothing could ruin beauty, especially not the milky blue of her blind eye, if anything if made her more beautiful.

Especially when Asuna seemed to realize that he was practically straddling her to keep her from kicking him and had been for nearly the entire time. Kirito watched in fascination as a pink blush spread across the bridge of her nose, her cheeks, and lit up her ears a red, a darkening of the already rosy flush of her cheeks from laughter. She may not be able to see him at the current moment due to her flickering vision, but she could  _ feel _ his weight and the way it was positioned. Asuna put her hands to her increasingly red face, covering her eyes in a way she had done all the time whenever she was embarrassed by something he did.

Kirito grinned, she was adorable, and with everything going one in the past year he hadn't seen too much of her cute blush, too busy making sure she was adjusting to the injury, finding a solution for Yuuki, and solving the Death Gun problem. So he told her that. "You're adorable Asuna," he said with a smile and watched as she peeked from between her fingers, her right eye tracking his movement properly as her vision finally stopped flickering.

Asuna's blush darkened and she huffed, wrinkling her nose in that cute way that always melted Kirito's heart. "Meanie," she mumbled.

Kirito's heart melted and her gently grasped her wrists before he leaned over on his hands and knees, "sorry hun," he apologized, keeping their faces in close proximity, Asuna's warm breath tickling his skin.

Asuna's amber eyes softened and she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck and shut her eyes, "mhmm," she responded and tugged his head closer to her.

Kirito got the hint and leaned down to give her a kiss.

They barely a five seconds warning of "Tilnel!" and scratching on the wooden stairs before a dog shot into the room, jumped up onto the bed, and knocked Kirito flat on top of Asuna with a pained grunt who groaned from beneath him. Kirito's weight combined with the dog's and the dog partially sitting on Kirito was enough to knock the wind out of her. Then of course the dog had to stand up and start licking Asuna's face with the goal to cover it with slobber.

"Ack! Ew Tilnel!" Asuna pushed the dog away from her face, "you're still wet!" Indeed, her guide dog was still rather wet from it's bath and trip to the groomers. "Stop it!" She complained and pushed her away from her again.

Kirito narrowed his eyes at Tilnel who held the stare for a few moments before she promptly spun around in a few circles and flopped down half on top of the pair of humans. Kirito tactfully said nothing, and kept his expression as neutral as he could as the dog flopped down on top of him, pushing him and Asuna nose to nose. This position wasn't the most comfortable to be in, and their faces were both bright red, as bright red as they could get by now.

Asuna was too mortified to do other than shut her eyes and half pretend it wasn't happening.

And it just got worse when footsteps could be heard from the stairs, "Tilnel!" Sugu had been in charge of taking Tilnel to the groomers today, leaving Asuna and Kirito with time to themselves without Asuna's guide dog Tilnel being all over protective. The dog had a competition going on against Kirito, for who can have the most of Asuna's attention despite how Asuna had been teaching Tilnel that the bedroom was Kirito's space, and that it was his time with her, especially if they were asleep. Tilnel had been stubborn about staying out of the bedroom unless she was invited and it drove the couple crazy since Tilnel would run up the stairs and wriggle between them whenever someone walked down the stairs and woke her up. Outside the house however, Tilnel was a perfectly well behaved guide dog, and was careful to take Asuna around without bumping anything. Overall Tilnel was a good dog, she was just a little quirky, and Asuna loved her just as much as everyone else, except maybe Yui, Yui had completely fallen in love with her mother's dog and played with Tilnel whenever the dog wasn't tired and was at home.

"Tilnel you're not supposed to go in there!" Sugu entered the room and Kirito looked at his sister out of the corner of his eye, speaking in a strained tone of voice.

"It's not what it looks like, Tilnel jumped on me." Kirito sighed, "can you please get her off?"

Sugu nodded, her face going a soft pink, "yeah, um, how?"

Asuna tugged her arm out from under Kirito where it had been pinned and pointed down on the floor, and spoke a half shaky command, her lips brushing against Kirito's as she spoke due to how close they were. "Tilnel, get off."

Tilnel whined in response and nudged her side with her nose. ' _ I don't want to!' _

"Off, now."

Tilnel didn't budge, ' _ I want your attention!' _ she practically whined and nudged Asuna's waist.

Asuna tried to reach up and grasp Tilnel's collar, but without really being able to see was she was doing and with the dog moving away from her hands it was near impossible. "Tilnel! Get off!" Asuna's voice was strained now too, and breathless from being pinned under a thirty pound dog and Kirito at the same time.

Tilnel whimpered, ' _ No!' _

Kirito pulled a face as Asuna lunged and reached as far as she could, managing to grab a hold of her dog's collar and making the position more uncomfortable for Kirito as she moved.

Asuna tugged hard on the dog's collar, "Tilnel, off, now." Her voice was frustrated and borderline upset at the dog, "you know better!" She then rolled her eyes at Kirito and mumbled in a voice Sugu couldn't hear, "pervert."

Kirito winced, " I'm only thinking gentlemanly things," he promised indignantly in a strained voice while waiting for the dog to get off.

"I know," Asuna replied in an amused tone before she repeated her command to Tilnel, "Tilnel off, go outside."

Tilnel whimpered, gave the back of Kirito's head a good lick, and jumped off the bed and over to Sugu, trotting unhappily at her heels.

"Sorry!" Sugu hastily apologized before racing down the stairs, Tilnel following after her.

Kirito scrambled off of Asuna and to one side, sitting on his knees and offering a hand to Asuna, face still rather red with embarrassment, "sorry…" his voice trailed off in shock and a few moments later he stared at his and Asuna's joined hands.

While he was apologizing Asuna had reached forward without thinking, using one hand to grasp her forearm and using the other with the distance guide to grasp his hand properly before letting go of his arm. She didn't miss his hand, the action wasn't clumsy, if anything it looked natural. Completely normal.

* * *

Adjusting had been hard, Kirito reflected as he heard Asuna sneeze and looked up from his book and at the girl sleeping next to him, but it was all worth it in the end. He still had his beautiful SAO wife and significant other, Yui was perfectly safe and sound, and they had a new member of the family.

Kirito's gaze wandered over to the white dog sprawled at the foot of the bed with Yui curled into a ball on her flank, and the dog opened one icy blue eye to peer at Kirito. The two of them stared at each other till Kirito gave a grunt and looked away and Tilnel snorted a big puff of air and casually closed her eyes. Yes, he did fight with the dog for who could have the most of Asuna's attention, and he wished that Black had never gotten to his everything in life, but he wouldn't change it for the world. Kirito scooted down, put a bookmark in his book and put it down before he settled down next to Asuna, lifting a hand and brushing his thumb over her long scar.

The whole thing had only brought them closer, and quite frankly, both of them were okay with it happening. Now they were prepared for if something else happened, and he saw Asuna as an even more beautiful and strong person than she was before.

Asuna stirred a little at his touch and opened her eyes to look blearily at him, clearly confused as to why she was awake at the current time of day.

Kirito scooted closer to her and brushed his lips over her forehead before pulling her close into an embrace, "I love you," he settled on saying a moment later into her caramel colored hair, letting his heavy eyes close on their own.

"I love you too Kirito," Asuna responded in a sleep hazy tone, "very much."

Kirito smiled against her hair and took a deep breath, the smell of her strawberry scented long hair washing over his senses.  _ And I know we'll keep working through this, together like always, and forever. _

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally one chapter (because it's part of a general SAO one-shot collection) but I wanted to break it up to make it flow a little better.


End file.
